Inside the growing campaign to free the Menendez Brothers

In solitary confinement you meet the most interesting people.

For former New York mobster Michael Franzese, who was in prison for parole violations, those people happened to be Erik and Lyle Menendez, whom they encountered while serving time at a federal correctional facility in Los Angeles County.

The Menendez Brothers, infamous for killing their parents — including father Jose, a show business major who they say sexually abused them — were in the middle of their 1996 life sentences without parole. As of 2018, years after meeting Franzese, they have been in the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Southern California.

But they are not locked up for long. There is now a movement to shorten these sentences and release them. It was spurred by the Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix biographical series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

Released last September, it tells the story of the murderous brothers, their alleged sexual predator father Jose and their laissez-faire mother Kitty. Franzese praised it on his YouTube channel, also saying the brothers had “spent enough time.”

Franzese comes to this advice through firsthand knowledge. “Lyle opened up to me and told me about the abuse,” Franzese told The Post. “I asked him a lot of questions. I have a good BS detector and I believe they were abused by their father.”

That said, he remembers something strange that came out of Lyle’s mouth in the expectation that he wouldn’t die behind bars: “I’ll never forget him telling me that (when he’s released from prison)” I don’t know what I’m going to do. to do it without my father. ”

Despite everything, Franzese added, “They were so dependent on him. (Lyle) always expressed his love for his father – even though there was abuse from his father. He said he lived in fear of him. But he was such a great force in his life.”

Now the former gangster is among a diverse cadre of actors, family members, influencers and others who are campaigning for the brothers’ early release. Kim Kardashian, Rosie O’Donnell, rapper Anerae “X-Raided” Brown and a few dozen family members have all campaigned for a reconsideration of life incarceration.

Embattled Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón – amid whispers that the ultra-liberal district attorney is desperate for a public comeback as he faces challenges for re-election in November – announced he would increase the sentences of Lyle and Erik would review and decide whether or not he would perform. reconsideration is warranted.

He posted and briefly deleted a screenshot of a letter from Erik to his cousin, discovered by Robert Rand, who wrote a nonfiction book about the brothers’ murders. “I tried to avoid Dad,” the letter said. “Every night I stay awake thinking he might come in.”

Some believe this provides proof of the alleged abuse.

The brothers have been imprisoned since 1990, convicted of first-degree murder for parricide – killing their parents in 1989. They claimed Jose sexually abused them while mother Kitty watched silently. Roy Rosselló, of the boy band Menudo, has made similar claims against Jose in the years since they were convicted.

Erik and Lyle have maintained that the double murders, which they have admitted were carried out in self-defense, occurred because they claim their parents killed them to prevent them from exposing their father.

For years, the Menendez brothers were pretty much a punchline, and the chances of them seeing the light of day seemed slim. Ryan Murphy then created the Netflix series about the alleged sexual abuse, murders and two trials – the first of which was declared a mistrial.

The series was panned in Variety and the brothers hated it. They insisted it was “horrible” and “filled with blatant lies,” particularly objecting to scenes that suggested the brothers were in an incestuous relationship.

Murphy replied: “It’s really, really hard – when it’s your life – to see your life on screen.”

But then something unexpected happened. “Younger people saw it and were so outraged by the characterization,” Lyle and Erik’s attorney Mark Geragos told The Post. “The Ryan Murphy thing caused a backlash that was very helpful. When Ryan Murphy says, “I’m the best thing that ever happened to them,” it’s because he was so exaggerated. It’s so outrageous that I think the response helped.”

Although Franzese thought highly of Lyle and Erik, he had no respect for their behavior after the murder – especially their luxury shopping spree of spending their late parents’ money on Rolex watches and a Porsche – which reportedly shows of a lack of grief that put the police on their trail.

“I can tell you those guys weren’t real criminals… they were amateurs,” Franzese said. “They didn’t do the right thing after this whole thing was over. I mean, they went out and bought a car! They should have done the opposite.”

Since the series came out, the brothers have also caught the attention of reality star turned social justice advocate Kim Kardashian.

She wrote in an essay for NBC: “They are kind, intelligent and honest men… I hope the life sentences of Erik and Lyle Menendez are reconsidered.”

Rosie O’Donnell claims to have been pen pals with Lyle for 30 years, following an appearance on ‘Larry King Live’. She ignored the advice of Barbara Walters, who warned: “He’s a murderer. He is very cunning.”

These days, O’Donnell and Lyle talk regularly on the phone — his wife, former magazine reporter Rebecca Sneed, made sure they were in touch on Mother’s Day 2023 — and she hugs the brothers when she visits them in prison. O’Donnell described herself as a “big sister” and as a “cheerleader” for their freedom.

Rapper Anerae “X-Raided” Brown has publicly revealed that the brothers encouraged him to take prison classes, enroll in Narcotics Anonymous and renounce his violent past as a Crips gang member who ended up in prison for his involvement in a murder.

“They have served time equivalent to the crimes they committed from the perspective of being victims of child abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse,” Brown, who is now free, told The Post. “I very much believe that they have rehabilitated themselves and dozens of other men – including myself.”

Earlier this week, Menendez’s family members, young and old, gathered at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles for the release of Lyle and Erik. Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty’s 92-year-old sister, has expressed undiminished empathy for her nephews. “It became clear,” she said, “that their actions – however tragic – were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive their father’s unspeakable cruelty.”

While it’s unclear what their finances will look like when they leave prison — “I never asked,” says Geragos, who believes the remaining family money is “long gone” — rapper Anerae “X-Raided” Brown don’t worry.

“They have powerful allies, including myself (who) would find it unacceptable if the Menendez brothers were not financially secure,” X-Raided said.

But not everyone is willing to write off the blood on the Menendez brothers’ hands. Their uncle, Milton Andersen, Kitty’s 90-year-old brother, would like to see them remain in prison for life. Andersen, according to his attorney Kathy Cady, claims that “his cousins ​​were not abused.”

Cady told Eyewitness News of Andersen, “He believes this is a fabrication and that the motive was pure greed.”

Brown acknowledges that “no one should put a limit on the amount of time people can spend in pain,” but he does believe that Lyle and Erik Menendez will make great contributions to society from their captivity. “They have been given ample time in terms of the crime and the motivation behind it. The success of the brothers and the way they will perform in society once they are released will justify everything.”